On Apr. 9, 2020, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis launched a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The trial investigated the effectiveness of different combinations of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

Express Scripts, a Cigna company, has donated these medications to the School of Medicine in an effort to accelerate research for a COVID-19 treatment.

The Food and Drug Administration recently gave emergency approval for hospitals across the country to use the two antimalarial drugs to treat severe cases of COVID-19. However, this treatment strategy remains unproven.

Respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 include dry cough and shortness of breath. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people should seek medical attention if symptoms progress to difficulty breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion or inability to arouse, and bluish lips or face.

This trial is only for patients who are ill enough to be admitted to the hospital. The researchers plan to enroll 500 patients over the course of the study.